The Borrowers Are Busy Here!

 

Have you ever had something disappear and searched for it everywhere only to have it magically reappear right where it was supposed to be?

Psychologists say that our brain is often the one that hides things. Our eyes are selective.  I know, as a person who is hard of hearing, that I had to retrain my brain not to hear all the sounds a hearing aid picks up, which our brain normally filters out. The same thing goes for eyes. Our brain decides what is important and ignores the rest.  If you search for something in a specific spot and it's even slightly out of place, your brain may not register it at all.  In effect, it becomes invisible. It may reappear later when you are in a different mental state and simply not looking so hard.

Right now, my little watercolour palette and my TV remote are both hiding from me.  We tend to say the Borrowers took things when they disappear like that.  The Borrowers are tiny wee folk who live in your walls or under your floorboards. This is much-loved folklore, and in 1952, Mary Norton even wrote a children's book about them. The Borrowers do not steal your belongings; they just borrow them and use them in their own homes. They tend to take little things that you shouldn't miss, but often do anyway. 

I do not know where my TV remote is.  It is always kept in the same area, and it's not there. It's not anywhere else in that room either. If it was just my selective eyes not seeing it, then my hubby should have been able to find it when he looked. We tore the furniture apart and vacuumed the crevices and dusted underneath. It's been a few days, and we have even looked in other rooms!  That TV remote is, indeed, missing. The paint palette is also not anywhere that I would expect, it to be, but maybe my studio is just in need of straightening out.

I had a little book I wanted to give someone. It disappeared months ago.  I looked through all the other items nearby.  I even asked my hubby to look through some of the stuff that he had put away.  It was simply gone. Then, this week, while dusting the exact spot where I had last seen it, that little book reappeared.  It is not like I have not dusted there a million times since it vanished. It had to be the Borrowers who took it, and finally decided to bring it back.  I do hope they return the TV remote a lot faster than that!

Testing the Waters

For several years, I have been promising myself that I would open an online store. Originally I thought it would be an Etsy shop, and that may still happen. At Christmas time I showed my Facebook friends a cushion I had created using my own art. I planned to order one but it was through Fine Art America and between the exchange rates and shipping it added up to more than I was willing to pay...and that would have been at my wholesale price. Apparently, nobody else wanted one either, not that I did any actual marketing. 

I have since located two Canadian companies that also print items on demand. I sent one of them a photo of a piece of art I created to see how it would look on their products. I am quite pleased but, as there are what some of you might consider flaws in my artwork, I wanted to see if they spoiled the effect once printed bigger than the actual art. I have ordered two products in vastly different materials so that I can see how these things look in person. That will also give me a clear idea if I should change the routine thread colour, and whether I want more than just my name on the labels. 

The company I'm testing first is highly attentive.  I have had an email each day explaining various aspects of their website, how things work, and how to get my patterns adjusted on the products more in line with what I had in mind. They also tell me what steps to take to create my shop online or in person.  I even got a quick reply when I sent an email asking a question.  So far,  I am quite impressed. 

 

As everything is printed, cut, and sewn only after either you or I order it, it will take a couple of weeks to arrive.  If all goes well, I will add designs and open the shop.  The other company I found prints completely different things in a more simplified way. I might test a few of their products out too.  And Etsy? Well, if I get perfectly good test products I decide I don't want to keep, maybe I will try selling them there.  At least I have finally started to test the waters on this long-awaited project.

Recognition, However Small

 As we go through life we often take on tasks for which we get no recognition. Some of them are done for fun and others are required of us. Some are even a combination of both.  

Take, for instance, the books I read for authors and publishers. I am given these publications for free in exchange for a review. Most of the time I consider that a privilege. I enjoy reading and it doesn't cost me anything to take advantage of this opportunity.  I am allowed to express an opinion,  and believe me, if I don’t enjoy the book, for whatever reason, I will definitely tell you.

Recently I had the chance to read a pre-publication copy of Across the Shining Sea by Hunter Chadwick. It was not the first book from this author that I have read, and I'm sure it won't be the last.  This book is the first in a series of three, but they will be complete stories, independent of the others. Across the Shining Sea is now available for pre-order on Amazon. 

But what I am here to tell you about today is that this author chose to quote my review in his latest newsletter and on his web page. That tickles me, as just yesterday, I was told that the painting I did for the contest I told you about last fall is now appearing on the information screen at the local health centres.  Even though I did not win the contest, or go into any great description of a good book, I am feeling recognized. It's a great way to start my year.

Grinch Mode Reving Up!

 I'm often in Grinch mode at Christmas but this year I just wore the t-shirt once. That was more of a fun thing than me actually being Ginchy. Christmas has simplified a lot over the years, and I do appreciate that. it's not all good as I do miss my family gathering, but I am getting to an age where it can be more than I can handle.

The buying of gifts seems to be a bigger chore every year.  Not only do I have mostly men to buy for (and what do they want anyway?) but I don’t drive and hardly got to any stores this year.  I had to resort to online shopping.  Oh, and the post office decided to go on strike, just to make matters worse. (Oops, sorry. I seem to be slipping into my Grinch mode for some reason). 

I accidently found what I considered to be the perfect gift for my eldest grandson. I ordered it at what I thought was a good price and paid even more for expedited shipping.  The delivery date then turned out to be about three weeks away. That is certainly not my idea of expedited!  The delivery date came and went. Nothing arrived. I contacted the seller to express my concern and complain about paying so much for expedited shipping for nothing.  They offered me 15% off but when I asked if the product would arrive before Christmas, they could not guarantee that.  I looked on Amazon and found what I wanted there so I cancelled the original order.  

The Amazon version was going to cost me three times more but I really wanted this for my grandson and it was getting too late to dream up something else.  I put it in an order with 4 other things, all of which arrived in a timely manner.....except for this one elusive thing for my grandson.

A bug has hit our house now so there will be no more shopping in even the local stores.  When my son drove 2 hours to drop off gifts and pick up what I had for them, he didn't dare come in. The gift for his oldest son had still not arrived, though it was scheduled to show up that very day.  News flash!  It's still not here though tracking shows it left Etobicoke a few days ago.  Oh, and now Amazon is asking for a review before it even gets here!  The latest  estimate is that it will arrive December 24.  I'm not holding my breath, but you might notice I am starting to turn green. I cannot even blame that on my current illness.

The Rest of the Story

 

It's been a while since my last blog post. I was telling you about the roadblocks I was putting in my own way. I had a project to do and I was procrastinating.

An acquaintance that I see occasionally told me about an art contest being put on by the Rideau Community Health Services. They wanted artwork that would help them celebrate and promote a welcoming, inclusive community. They mentioned such things as diversity, equality and advocacy . I immediately  had several ideas so I thought I might take a stab at it. This idea of entering contests is new to me this year, and while I never expected to win anything, it still gave me a target to aim for.

I would have told you all this sooner but I wanted to post the results. There were three prizes. I didn't win but I also have no idea who did. I even inquired about the results but got nothing but an automated response saying they received my message and would get back to me. They never did.  All I do know is that I am the only one who entered from this area. It would be really nice to see the winning entries but I will, at least, show you mine.  

I may not have won this contest but I feel like a winner anyway. I dared to do something I have never done before and am apparently the only person in a village full of accomplished artists who even submitted an entry.  I'm proud to have taken another step forward in my art journey, and I did have fun, once I got started.

Roadblocks

 Do you ever get excited about a new project idea and then never get it done because you have created roadblocks for yourself?

A couple of months ago I thought I had at least a fair chance of getting a piece of my art into a local show. There was a theme that I really identified with, and I had an idea that I figured would be different from everyone else's, so it might stand a chance. I set about creating a piece, thinking I might make as many as three. The first one was going very well, and then I hit a snag. I had to make a decision on how to finish it.  The piece was done in black and white. Was I going to leave the background the blank white paper? Quite possibly. I also had to add one more element in order to finish it. But I liked what I had accomplished so much I put up a roadblock. I couldn't finish because I was suddenly afraid to ruin what I had done so far.

Now I have been given the opportunity to get in on something I consider even more important than a local show. If I managed to create a successful piece it would be shown in a place that would be uplifting to people in need of some sort of encouragement.  I got a couple of ideas on how to handle this project. I settled on one that excited me the most and did the prep work. Suddenly, for some strange reason, I seem to be busy setting up all kinds of roadblocks. This feels like far more than simple procrastination. Instead of my usual, full steam ahead and thinking the journey is more important than the destination, I'm almost afraid to put that first mark on the paper.  Maybe it's because this time I actually have a destination for this thing in mind. I'm not sure I can climb over this hurdle, but I still have more than a month to give it a try.

Normally I'm the one encouraging people who wish they could draw or paint to just do it. Don't be afraid, just have fun, I say. I even encourage those who do art, not to hide it. Put it out there, I tell them. Goodness knows I post everything I do, no matter how badly I think it turns out. Strangely, the pieces I'm most ashamed of seem to get a better response than the ones I'm actually proud of. Go figure! So, I should just get busy and attack this project...have fun with it, and just see what happens. Maybe tomorrow I will find the strength to move that roadblock out of the way. Wish me luck.

The Occurrence

 Something occurred in my tiny village recently that many people have not discovered yet. I only found out about it because of a message I got from a long-time cyber buddy who lives in Bancroft. 

Those who live here are aware of a construction project on the north side of the river that has been underway for several years now. While a couple of units have occupants the rest of the building remained empty and even had a broken window. The west end of the building now contains a puzzle factory and shop.

When I found out about this, I went to explore the shop. The puzzles are bright and beautiful, and the owner is delightful.

Brigitte Gall and Michael J Bainsbridge got this idea to create puzzles in 2018 while living through a cold snap in Haliburton. Michael is an award-winning mineral photographer so they picked out some of his photos and had their new business up and running just before the pandemic hit.  I'd call that perfect timing. He now works at the Museum of Nature so they moved in this direction and settled in Kemptville. While looking for a suitable place to set up the factory and shop they found this spot in Merrickville  at 105 West Broadway Street. 

I was lucky enough to be shown how the puzzles were made and packaged up, as they do everything right there on the premises.  The pictures, glued to their backing, are placed on a sturdy foam rubber and run through a press that exerts 7000 pounds of pressure. This compresses the foam, allowing precision steel blades to cut the picture into puzzle pieces. It only takes seconds. The pieces are then manually scooped up, bagged, and boxed. Only high-quality materials are used and a total of 150 puzzles can be produced in a day. 

The company states its goal is to appeal to fellow science nerds and like-minded art geeks. They not only have puzzles made from photos taken by Michael, but they also have some fascinating ones representing various towns. Multimedia artist, Alice Hinther has produced pieces containing a conglomeration of recognizable buildings. There are puzzles representing Perth and Westport, for instance.  Rumour has it there will be one of Merrickville soon too.

And just in case you would like to make a puzzle out of art of your own, they do that too.

The new business is called The Occurrence and they are having their grand opening on July 27. Go check it out!